Kimi Räikkönen: “The worst place to make a mistake”

Considering the first part of the final attempt to Kimi Räikkönen in qualifying in Baku, the Finn seemed in a strong position to beat his teammate at Ferrari Sebastian Vettel for pole position.

Especially since both Mercedes had failed in their quest for pole. But the last bend conditioning the endless straight of the Baku urban circuit will prove fatal for the 2007 world champion.

“I went sideways at the exit of the last corner while accelerating, while I was on a very good lap, comments Räikkönen, more than two tenths ahead of Vettel before his mistake.

It was the worst place to make a mistake. Then you have the very long straight to the finish line, and I lost time. It’s an end to…..”

Räikkönen will also have to deal with a different strategy from his rivals tomorrow in the race. The Ferrari driver actually set his best time in Q2 with a set of ultra-soft tires, when the other contenders for victory used super-soft tires.

The cause was another error, in Q2 this time, where Räikkönen shot straight into a loophole before taking several seconds to escape from the area. The Finn was subsequently forced to put on the ultra-softs, having chosen to only use one super-soft set for the weekend.